“He was alert and awake talking to us after the event and quickly transported to the hospital.

“At this point, I was able to talk to him in the back of the ambulance, and he was able to tell me where he was and he actually wanted to get back in the game.”

Players from both teams remained on the ice for about 15 minutes before the game was called off then retreated to the locker room. The NHL said they would decide at a later date when they would finish the game.

“There’s nobody in there that wants to play hockey right now, and I think everybody understands that when you’ve witnessed what they had to witness and that’s their teammate,” Ruff said.

“And that’s the right place to be. That’s the right emotion to have. They’re not doing very good, and I wouldn’t expect them to be.”

(Reporting by Julian Linden in New York; Editing by Greg Stutchbury/Patrick Johnston)